Page 24

Frontiers May 2016 Issue

protrude from the front end. Multiple
wires connect to the back.
While it hardly looks threatening in
appearance, Boeing’s Compact Laser
Weapon System represents the latest
response to the increasing use of
unmanned airborne systems in warfare
situations. Developed for the U.S. Army
Special Forces, the laser weapon
can disable or bring down an enemy
unmanned aircraft by destroying its
camera, engine or aerodynamics. It
shoots a silent, light-speed beam at
a target, including from long range,
and brings down unmanned aircraft
in seconds.
“Small UAS (unmanned airborne
systems) are a priority for us—our
adversaries have them and bad
actors within our borders have them,”
DeYoung said. “You can buy them
with a high-definition camera at an
electronics store for $1,200. The legacy
we want is to get laser advances to
our product, and get the product in
the hands of the warfighter.”
The Compact Laser Weapon System
24 | BOEING FRONTIERS
can be more easily transported across
a battlefield and used than comparable
weaponry, the engineers say. Just two
people are needed to pick it up and
load it onto a military vehicle. Setup
time requires 10 minutes.
Added troop and civilian safety
is a big motivator for these Boeing
Albuquerque engineers to complete
this project that is about two years
in the making.
“If we can have just one more
American soldier, airman or Marine
come home safe, if we can lessen the
civilian casualties by being more lethal,
I think we’ve done our job,” Crow said.
With customer feedback in hand,
mechanical engineers Kurt Sorenson
and Bryan Crespin apply upgrades
to the Compact Laser Weapon
System. The chief outside request:
Build the equipment even more
rugged in order to deal with different
types of terrain and weather, plus
troops packing it up in a hurry to
exit a combat zone.
Users welcome controls that
operate similar to those on a videogame
console. They also appreciate
the element of surprise the laser
weapon guarantees, which is a
strong selling point for the military.
“Even a kilometer or two away, it’s
stealthy,” Crespin said. “People just
don’t know where it’s coming from.”
Elsewhere at Boeing Albuquerque,
a team of engineers led by Juan
Ceniceros, a former NASA employee,
builds cameras and sensors for the
Vision-based, Electro-Optical Sensor
Tracking Assembly, or VESTA. This is
part of the transportation technology
that will guide Boeing’s Crew Space
Transportation vehicle, known as
the CST-100 Starliner, in navigation
and docking at the International
Space Station.
“Not a lot of people can say, ‘I
build something that will help transport
crew into space,’ ” Ceniceros said.
“We push boundaries here. We do
stuff that hasn’t been done before.
To be part of historic first events,
it’s a badge of honor.”